Mismanagement
by MichaelSaniyan
Summary: Hiding love. It's not about if you make a mistake, it's about when. This is how Kagami  inevitably  found out about them. - KonataxTsukasa, oneshot.


**AN: There we go! A sensical, more refined version (IC) of IHYS. And yeah, I basically did this story because I wasn't happy with how IHYS turned out. It just so happens ****that Mismanagement proves that I too can write semi-IC and make references to source material. I'm expecting some sort of award sent to me within the next four weeks. **

* * *

The light came down from a hundred different directions thanks to the abundance of glass panes, panels, windows. The air was alive with the scent of early spring.

The green-eyed otaku strolled through the sunlit city with a smile on her lips. Every other store winked at her with promises of new merchandise, new commitments. Konata was eager to see what this summer would bring.

The moment she walked into the café, Tsukasa's waving hand caught her attention.

"Kagami and Miyuki?" Asked Konata, hoping for a good answer.

"They went to do something, but I forgot what. They'll be back soon though." The chibi-eyed girl informed her quickly, followed by the expected: "New highlights, Kona-chan?" Konata promptly spun around to show Tsukasa and all the customers who bothered looking her long blue hair, now infused with rivers of the purest black.

And the energetic high-school girl sat down and let Tsukasa feel up and try to braid her hair. Girls did this all the time, and though a demeaning stereotype in Konata's eyes, it was perfectly safe.

Miyuki and Kagami(n) soon came back, as promised. The latter laughed at the blunette's dark and rebellious acquisitions, but was effectively silence by a counter-joke about why Kagami had been absent in the first place.

"I was here before you were, you dimwit." She retorted, but in a joking tone that made a temporary truce clear.

The four left the café without actually ordering anything. They had all decided that this would be a day of no spending, which led to several oh's and ah's over a piece of clothing, a cheap yet tasteful decorative, or in the otaku's case, merchandise.

"Might be a good thing for you, Konata." The twintails said teasingly after an encounter with a particularly attractive store (for Konata, that was). "If we were on a shopping spree, you'd be knee-deep in IOUs by now."

"Low blow, Kagamin." Konata sniffled once, twice, and looked genuinely depressed. This only really lasted a few seconds.

"But I'd have no worries, good ol' Miyuki here would bail me out." The daydreaming girl looked up with an unusual grin.

"I'm not sure I'd have enough money for that." At this, the twin sisters broke down into violent laughing fits that made it hard for the two to walk straight.

"But you're pretty rich…" Konata said, playing a sad and hurt demeanor.

"Not rich enough!" Kagami almost screamed, and she had to support herself on her younger sister not to fall over. Tsukasa wasn't doing much better, and she had caught the hiccups from all the laughing.

"That's some burn there, Miyuki." Kagami rubbed her purple eyes free of a tear or two.

"It's fine, Miyuki." The girl with multiple hair colors said, who had started to notice some familiar expressions of worry in her friend's face. "I'm not ashamed of spending of money and time on things I love!" Miyuki giggled and Kagami shook her head in resignation. When the two walked ahead, Konata gave Tsukasa a satisfied wink. The short-haired girl pretended not to notice, right before she making a cute hiccup-related noise.

**-I-**

"Do you see it? Do you? Do you?" Konata was practically bouncing with impatience. Kagami took one step back, took another one, and tilted her head slightly to the side.

"I don't know, Konata. It's undoubtedly adorable, but I'm not sure I get what…what was it you called it?"

"_Moe._" The otaku said with overly Japanese pronunciation.

"…right. Not sure I get what that's supposed to be about. Miyuki, can you spin around?"

"This is really embarrassing, you guys." The pink-haired took a good hold of her glasses before doing a quick spin, showing off all the angles of the unarguable, irresistible, true-to-style French maid outfit.

"Sorry Miyuki, but it's just this once. What do you think about it?" Kagami asked Miyuki as gently as possible. Konata's enthusiasm had already begun to fade, and her attention had been assigned to something else.

"I…um, it's cute. I like the older style of it…I guess. Why don't you try on something?" While Miyuki squirmed and turned to get a better look at herself, Kagami could almost hear the gears clicking and whirring inside Konata's head.

"Oh no, I don't-"

"That's a great idea!" Konata's green eyes shone with excitement as she shook her stiff friend. "Kagami, I'll find you something as well!"

"Oh no you don't." Strong hands pushed Konata away. "If I have to, I'll find something I like." Even before she finished the sentence, Kagami felt intimidated by the sheer size of the store. Despite its size, there wasn't one section labeled "non-embarrassing". This was unfortunate.

"Have fun! I'll go check on Tsukasa." With a leisurely tone and an unwavering conviction, the frustrated girl said this. Said frustration was however hidden deep down, where no one could see it. She went over to the changing room where she knew Tsukasa was and knocked.

"It's just Kona-chan, don't worry." Konata said with a laugh and quickly slipped into the quite spacious cubicle. The size was most likely due to the…volume of some of the costumes in the store.

The short-haired girl stood with her back against Konata, half-dressed. The cheerful girl wrapped her arms around Tsukasa's waist and gently kissed her neck. Nervous as she always was, Tsukasa twitched at the unusual sensation of her friend's touch against her bare skin.

"Find anything you like?" Konata mumbled semi-loudly. Tsukasa felt the slight vibrations and heat from her friend speaking, and involuntarily shivered. She wanted to turn around and hug the energetic girl so bad, but she decided not to.

"There is so many of them, Kona-chan. So many outfits. I can't really choose one." Her voice was solid and believable, an improvement from earlier days. Konata understood that she's wasn't making anything up, judging by the large stack of clothing items in a corner.

"Haha, that's okay. It's not like we're buying anything, it just would've been fun to see what you would've picked. A person's taste in costume says a lot about the person herself." The final statement was said in a hoarse and overly serious voice, which made Tsukasa giggle.

"Konata!" The interrupting voice was Kagami's, close to the cubicle. Thereby the reason for the pretended conversation. Konata carefully let go of Tsukasa and walked out of the changing room, and immediately let out a loud squeal that was quite unlike her.

"Kagami! You look amazing! But why that one…?" What Kagami was wearing was the outfit of Miku Hatsune, the character of the famous singing synthesizer application with the same name. Kagami was perfect as a Miku, the most obvious similarity being the two abnormally long pigtails. At Konata's question, several thoughts flashed through the embarrassed girl's head. Since most of them made her want to smash her head against a wall, she simply said: "It looked good, and I actually know who I'm trying to look like."

In the lonesome safety of her cubicle, Tsukasa laughed to herself for two reasons. Firstly because she knew exactly why Kagami had chosen the outfit (the older sister had told her about the strange dream, but had left out the last minute or so. Tsukasa wasn't as stupid as not to realize this, but didn't want to pressure her sister further), but also because she thought the way Konata acted around Kagami was funny. The two of them were always arguing, but they were really good friends despite that. Or maybe because of it.

"Um…can I get out of this thing now?" Miyuki asked Konata nervously, as three people (two boys and a girl) was not-so-quietly whispering and pointing at her.

"Oh, let's see…"

"Konata…" Kagami said with a mildly threatening tone.

"Okay, okay. Sorry Miyuki, you can go change. You too, Kagami." The black/blue-haired girl added with a smirk.

"Yeah yeah. You mind telling Tsukasa to get back into her clothes as well?"

"Sure." Konata didn't mind that. Not at all.

**-I-**

The phone rang. Or more specifically, it vibrated. Keeping one hand on her keyboard, Konata picked up her cellphone and flipped it open with her chin.

"Hello?" She said neutrally, too bored for a more enthusiastic answering phrase.

"It's me." Said a tiny, fragile voice. Konata sat straight up in her chair, resulting in a tickling pain in her left leg, which had fallen asleep.

"Tsukasa!" Her voice hushed, the irresponsible girl took a tone from Kagami's register. "Why are you calling?"

"I…I couldn't sleep. You don't sound sleepy, Kona-chan, are you having trouble sleeping too?" A quick look around the room revealed that Konata was in the middle of an MMO grinding session at about 1: 06 a.m. Time flies by when you gain EXP at a moderately slow rate.

"…kinda. But why are you calling me? It's dangerous, especially at this hour."

"I just…wanted to talk to you, maybe. I don't know, I'm sorry…" And Tsukasa's voice sounded so pitiful and sad that Konata turned her screen off and leaned back in her chair.

"Don't be. It's just…you know.." There was a long silence, but Konata could clearly hear her friend's shaky breathing, made static-y by the phone.

"I hate it." Sighing, Konata ran her fingers through her strangely colored hair and wished that she could do something like that for Tsukasa as well. Something out of the ordinary. Something to make her friend feel better.

"I hate it too." She then answered. Only partially trying to hide it, Tsukasa's light sobbing could be heard through the distortion of electronic space. "Come on Tsukasa, don't cry." Konata pleaded. "If you start crying, I'll start too and then we'll both be puffy-eyed by tomorrow."

"Sorry, Kona-chan." After a loud sniffle, the voice came back a little happier. "I feel better now."

"Good. Tomorrow's a Monday and school, so we can hang out as usual."

"We and Miyuki." It was just a simple statement, but it was one of the more important things in the world.

"Wouldn't be school without her."

"Exactly. Whose notes would we copy?" For Tsukasa, this was a grade A joke, and Konata chuckled earnestly.

"G'night, Tsukasa."

"Good night, Kona-chan." Both of them hung up. One of the girls fell asleep minutes later, despite her many worries. The other girl tried to stay up, but soon fell asleep due to boredom. None of them felt very chipper next morning.

**-I-**

Spring made itself known. The sun gladly shared its warmth with everyone willing to leave their cool, air-conditioned homes. Every tree and every bush exploded with colors and scents, and a chilly breeze kindly ruffled the city to ease the citizens into the new season.

Not everyone experienced the change in temperature as something great though. A group of three high school girls sat under a delighted tree in their schoolyard. Maybe trees don't have emotions, but the rustling, intensely green crown couldn't be anything but happy.

Konata Izumi was less so, easily evidenced by the constant moaning. Both Tsukasa and Miyuki had trouble not laughing at the poor girl.

"It's so hot!"

"At least the wind is blowing." Tsukasa said optimistically. "Just imagine today with no wind at all."

"I don't care, it's still stupidly hot." Konata groaned and lied down in the grass, in her opinion a lot cooler than the stupid wind.

"Tsukasa, do you think it's hot today?" Miyuki sat with her back against the trunk of the tree and looked quite relaxed. Tsukasa stopped picking blades of grass and looked up at Miyuki with a blank expression. The pink-haired girl patiently repeated her question.

"Nah, it's nice. You think so too?"

"Mm. Maybe you just think it's hot because of your hair, Konata?"

"What makes you say that?" Konata said grumpily, tugging at black and blue streams of silky hair. Miyuki put a finger on her cheek and looked up in a thoughtful expression that would've looked stupid on anyone else.

"Well…first of all, you have a lot of it. Secondly, your hair is a lot darker than for example mine. So it absorbs more heat. Or you are just easily annoyed." The sentence was ended with the small joke, maybe because the theory seemed overly complicated for the problem. But Tsukasa didn't seem to think so, and nodded in understanding.

"And I have really short hair compared to you two."

"Well, I'll sacrifice some comfort for style. Do you think people noticed?" Konata asked no one in particular, looking up at the cloud-less sky. It was a rare moment of vanity for the independent otaku.

"A blind man would've noticed it, Konata. People are just too polite to say anything." Kagami entered the shadow of the tree, but didn't sit down. Konata sat up, brushing grass off her back.

"My sense of style just makes people speechless, Kagamin."

"I'd say."

"You're just jealous. Anyway, why are you so late? We're dying here." At this, a spark of compassion lit in Kagami's eyes.

"I'm sorry, I know it's ridiculously hot today-"

"Ha!" Konata exclaimed at Miyuki and Tsukasa, who both shrugged and smiled innocently. Kagami gave Konata an annoyed glance before continuing.

"…but I promised to help Misao with a school project, seeing as Ayano is home sick. We were going to do homework today, right? I'll be home as soon as I can, so you three can go to our place without me." A collective oh was uttered. Not a disappointed and certainly not a relieved oh, but an acknowledging oh. They said their goodbyes and Kagami ran off with her tails whipping behind her.

"Well then." Konata got up, instantly regretting the action as the heat seemed to triple in intensity. "Let's go."

"Actually…" Miyuki's trailing voice interrupted. "…I have to get new glasses today. My sight's been getting worse, it seems." Tsukasa let out a compassionate noise and Konata tilted her head to the side and smiled.

"You don't seem too worried about it."

"Ah, well, it was decided a while ago. So there is no need for any more check-ups." Inside Tsukasa and Konata grew a strange feeling that felt ten times hotter than any sun any day. Moments like this were rare, and they both acted accordingly.

Tsukasa started (to Konata's surprise) by saying: "Maybe we should do this tomorrow? I mean, without you and onee-chan…"

"Oh no, don't do that." Miyuki said, while her two friends were quietly praising her for her kindness. "Kagami said she'd be home as soon as she could, and I'm sure you two will manage."

"I guess…" Tsukasa said hesitantly.

"Miyuki's right, Tsukasa." Tying up the conversation, the three girls all felt the same feeling of satisfaction. The difference was only slight. "It's not like it's for Miyuki's sake that we have these sessions."

The pink-haired girl giggled and quickly told the two not to be so negative, because they weren't stupid. (Konata was just lazy and Tsukasa absent-minded.) She then scurried away across the yard, where several other students sat and complained under trees of their own. It was obviously not only Konata who had problems with the change in temperature.

Saying nothing, Konata and Tsukasa got up and started walking away minutes later, both of them excited at an opportunity to finally be alone together.

**-I-**

In fact, Miyuki was excited about the same thing. She wasn't going to get new glasses anytime soon. Her sight _was_ getting worse, but that wasn't news to her. Instead she went home and drank some tea, listened to some music, and later did her homework.

It was only natural that she had found out. It wasn't one of those chocking revelations that just gets thrown in your face, the insight was gradual. The truth is that love was never meant to be hidden, and there will always be small details, mistakes, that couples make.

Miyuki's patient and careful nature made her very observant of others, which might have been one of the many reason why she zoned out so often. In any case, she was the one who noticed the non-accidental touch, the quick glance, the slip in character. With the seed of a thought planted, every action of theirs only made Miyuki's conviction stronger. They were in love, and she couldn't be happier for them. When they were ready to tell her and Kagami, she would make sure she was appropriately surprised. But until then, she would just sit back and wait. Patiently.

**-I-**

"I'm home!" The light voice filled the empty hallway as Tsukasa and Konata stepped inside the Hiiragi residence.

"Welcome home!" Came the answer from somewhere in the house, spoken by Tadao, the father. Idle chat between the two girls transpired until Tadao's voice was heard once again. "Where's Kagami!"

"At school! She's helping a classmate with a project! She said she'd be home as soon as she could!"

"Fair enough! What are you two doing!" Konata came to the conclusion that he must be busy with something important, as the loud back-and-forth conversation was pretty pointless.

"We were going to do some homework! In my room." Tsukasa added after a hectic grimace from Konata.

"Well…" Better late than never, Tadao Hiiragi stepped into the hall. He was wearing a loose shirt and the legs of his pants were rolled up, one higher than the other. His hands and knees were dirty and a tired smile lit up his face. He picked a hell of a bad day for gardening work, evidenced by his exhausted appearance.

"…you two have fun. I'll be…out back." He ended sheepishly, realizing that anyone would be able to figure out where he would be.

Some thirty minutes later, Tsukasa was on her stomach in her bed, legs crossed in the air and chewing idly on the end of a pencil. Konata, as she was a lot more restless than her friend, was on the floor, flipping through empty notebook pages with a string of bored sighs.

"You know, I think we are exceptional people for actually doing math in a situation like this. Why are we doing math again?" Even the absent-minded Tsukasa picked up on Konata's sour tone, and laughed lightly.

"Well, perhaps I'm just excited that I don't need to run to onee-chan every two seconds for help, but I'd like to at least make some progress work-wise. Don't think I…" Short pause as Tsukasa's embarrassment got the better of her. "Don't think I don't want to be with you, Kona-chan, but Kagami won't be home any time soon. Besides, we have an alibi to keep. It's not like that one time…"

"At my place?" Konata filled in with a mischievous tone.

"Yeah. So try to work some, so it at least looks like we tried."

"Fine. Can you help me with this then?" Tsukasa rolled off the bed and sat down beside Konata.

"With what?" Looking up at Konata, she expected an answer or a helpful point at the problem. But instead, a hand reached up and gently caressed her cheek. Green eyes beamed at her with their usual intensity and, without thinking about it, Tsukasa put her own hand over Konata's.

"This." The usually hyper girl whispered calmly. She sat up (with some trouble, due to having access to only one hand) and pecked Tsukasa on the lips. The silence that followed was nothing but pleasant, and Konata laughed on the inside at her friend's surprised expression.

But to her own surprise, Tsukasa suddenly hugged her. The timid girl nuzzled into Konata's neck, inhaling the scent that was unmistakably her friend and love. The zany girl let her do so, wrapping her thin arms around Tsukasa.

"Still wanna do math?"

"No." Tsukasa breathed, and the heated air against her neck made Konata shiver. Shortly, she could feel and hear the all too familiar sounds. Tsukasa was crying again. The blunette sighed, but happily so.

"What's the matter?"

"I'm sorry, Ko-Kona-chan. I-I don't know why I'm crying. I can't help myself…" Tsukasa sobbed, and Konata could feel the tepid touch of salty tears on her skin. Forcefully, she grabbed the shoulders of the emotional girl and pulled her away. The sight that met her was heart-shattering and adorable.

"If I've told you once, I've told you a million times." Like a mother, Konata reprimanded her. Gently, she wiped away a tear from Tsukasa's cheek, where their hands had been seconds ago. "You can't keep apologizing for everything you do."

"Sor-" Tsukasa stopped mid-word, before wiping away the rest of the tears and smiling faintly. Konata's expression suddenly went sad, and her green eyes filled with compassion mirroring the embarrassment in the fiddly girl's violet eyes.

"Hey, I…I'm sorry if you feel I forced you into this. Tsukasa, I love you and the last thing I want is for you to feel like I'm taking advantage of yo-" For the second time that afternoon, Tsukasa threw herself around Konata's neck. The only difference this time was a pair of lips pressed against Konata's, effectively silencing her. Just as suddenly, Tsukasa pulled away, with those violet eyes flaring.

"Never ever say something like that again!" She practically hissed at Konata, who was too shocked to even try to answer. Her friend's forwardness was only a tenth as surprising as her anger. "Kona-chan, why would you even think that! You know how…shy and careful I can be. If it weren't for you…I-I don't know what I w-would do…" As Tsukasa still had her arms around Konata, the two were extremely close for something as ordinary as talking. Thus, you could literally hear the poor girl's composure crumbling as she spoke.

The otaku was touched, really. A very happy-go-lucky person, Konata didn't often put too much thought into what she did. But Tsukasa deserved thought. Right now, Konata was thinking of all the instances Tsukasa had proven her love to her. And she was questioning that! This time, it was her turn to apologize.

"Tsukasa…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to insult you." Averting her eyes, Konata felt an itching feeling along her spine. It was shame, a rare sensation for her. Didn't care for it too much. "I would never doubt your feelings for me. Sorry."

"It's fine." Just like that, Tsukasa was back to her light-hearted and happy self. "And I'm sorry for apologizing too much, though that is a very backwards thing to say." Konata agreed, laughing.

"You've been joking an awful lot these last days, Tsukasa. How unusual."

"That's probably thanks to you." Tsukasa mumbled. They looked at each other again. Within seconds, violet met green, hand met hand and mouth met mouth in the day's first mutual kiss. Small whimpers of pleasure escaped both of them as cinder blocks of stress and worry on their shoulders just melted away. In this matter, Tsukasa was not the only clumsy one, and they were enjoying the intimacy more than the kiss itself. That was, until they (with the initiative of Tsukasa, strangely enough) decided to take the kiss one step further.

The universe is weird. Some people can go their entire lives without major injuries, surviving by pure luck and/or ignorance. Other people take all the precautions, but still end up getting their arm chopped off by an industrial machine or drowning in knee-deep water.

Konata and Tsukasa were, obviously, careful around other people, most importantly in school or around Miyuki and Kagami. However, there are always mistakes. Some (contextually) fatal.

_First mistake:_ They misjudged the amount of time Kagami would be gone. Of course, Tsukasa had no way of knowing when her sister would return. She just assumed.

The second Tsukasa said "It's fine", Kagami came home. She was tired, real tired, and chose to collapse on the couch for a while. She doubted the two up there would give her any rest. Tadao came in, if possible even more torn up than earlier, and chatted for a while with his daughter.

After this, Kagami went up the stairs. In a mix of consideration and exhaustion, she walked up with slow and silent steps.

_Second mistake: _Konata and Tsukasa didn't pay enough attention. Or as many-a couple had done before them; they got caught up in the moment. Maybe if Kagami had clamped up the stairs in a very energetic and excited way, maybe then they would've noticed. But she didn't.

So when the two were tenderly kissing and enjoying the moment that would never end, ablaze with more feelings and thoughts and emotions than they could count, Kagami Hiiragi walked through the door.

_Third mistake: _They left the door unlocked.

When Kagami opened that door, two things happened simultaneously. Kagami dropped her school bag, which fell onto the floor with a loud thud. On her face was a blank expression, as if the brain was trying to think of which one to use. In a flurry of exploding shame, worry and frustration, Tsukasa and Konata practically repelled each other. Their faces were aglow with several nuances of red, and their respective reactions were noticeably different.

Tsukasa curled into a ball and started to stare so intensely at the floor that one might think that she was considering hiding under the floorboards…which she was.

Konata's reaction was a lot more aggressive. Knowing that there was a strong possibility that she would be brutally maimed in the upcoming minutes, she immediately got up on her feet. Emotionally exhausted, the poor girl backed into a corner on very wobbly legs. Kagami still hadn't moved.

"Kagami, listen. I know this looks bad…" The classic phrases mumbled their way out of Konata's mouth. They quickly fell short though, when she realized that she had no idea what to say. Luckily, Kagami spared her that pain.

"Get out."

"Onee-chan-" Tsukasa whimpered, not completely sure who her sister was talking to and not wanting to know. Both alternatives were just as bad.

"Tsukasa. Get out." The order was followed by silence, until the younger sister's sobs filled the room. Konata truthfully considered going over to her, but too late. Kagami's emotionless eyes shone with a tone of resignation and annoyance as she walked up to her sister and grabbed her by the wrist. Tsukasa yelped in surprise, but not before Kagami had yanked her up on her feet and started dragging her towards the door. Strangely enough, the short-haired girl didn't protest. She merely continued to sob and sniffle until Kagami threw her out of the room. Konata, who had never seen Kagami be so violent with Tsukasa, gulped.

With a bang, the twintails slammed the door shut and locked it. It was noisy enough that Tadao might've heard it, but he was busy doing really stupidly timed garden work. He chose to ignore it, or didn't hear it at all.

"Actually…" The voice of the (comparatively) tall, stone-cold beast was way too soft. It had to be screaming, accusing, insulting. Konata's heart ached from nervousness and interrupted love. "…I would've had you leave, but I'm afraid I'll kill you if you come any closer."

Now, this was a huge exaggeration, of course. But at the time and place, none of them thought of it as such. Konata pressed herself harder against the wall and tugged her blue and black hair hard. The pain was soothing.

"Kagami, I-"

"Wipe your mouth before you speak, idiot." Dazed as she was, it took a while for Konata to realize what Kagami meant. When she did, she almost fainted. On Konata's chin glistened tiny droplets, left there from the violent disconnection of her beloved one's lips. So before speaking, Konata wiped her chin, only in the back of her head noting the fact that it was a mix of her and Tsukasa's saliva. If nothing else, it made her cheeks glow even redder.

"I want to apologize for not telling you."

"You couldn't think of anything better?" Kagami's voice grew colder.

"I have nothing else to apologize for."

"Nothing else…" Then came a strange sound. It was usually a very pleasant sound, but in the context of the situation, it was frightening. Kagami was laughing. It was a sighing laughter, as if she had heard something amusing, yet very stupid.

"Nothing else, you say? Man Konata, I never knew you were this much of a creep. Some shame would suit you." The words were nonchalant, and finally insulting, but the tone of Kagami's voice were sharp as knives and just as deadly. Konata failed to notice this, and grasped what she thought was an opportunity.

"I don't need to be ashamed, just embarrassed. I love Tsukasa, and she loves m-"

"Enough!" With something akin to a roar, the beast ran towards Konata's corner. With a surprised yelp, the short girl ducked under Kagami's open arms and crawled/ran across the room. The scene was quite comical, though not to the two involved.

The third person, Tsukasa, started banging on the door as soon as she heard the ruckus her two friend were making. She had been calming down and listening to their conversation with a pounding heart, hoping that it wouldn't come to fighting.

Coincidentally, a panicking Konata reached the door just as Tsukasa started hammering away at it. She barely had time to unlock it before she got yanked back by Kagami. The two merged into a pile of kicks and punches and screams, whereas one was only trying to protect herself.

In seconds, Kagami ended up on top of Konata, pinning her to the floor. Rivers of purple hair created pretty drapes as a jagged voice, at last emotional and strong, echoed in the room.

"Do you think I care in the least about how you feel! This is about Tsukasa, not you!" At this, a cracked and thick voice came to life.

"I love her, onee-chan!" Spikes of lightning shot through Konata at her Tsukasa's words, but she groaned as Kagami's grip around her arms became a lot harder.

Tsukasa stood in the doorway, puffy-eyed and trembling with a mix of anger, fear and embarrassment.

"Be quiet, Tsukasa." Kagami didn't even look up at her sister, she just kept staring into Konata's eyes. The blunette found this extremely awkward.

"I figured she would say that." Suddenly, Kagami's voice was calm. Tired. "But that doesn't really matter. I probably know you better than anybody, Konata. And I won't allow you to go through with this."

Both Tsukasa and Konata didn't quite understand what Kagami meant, which was to be expected. It was all related to the twintails' general distrust towards Konata. Yeah, they were friends. Yeah, they had known each other for a long time. But Konata Izumi was a happy-go-lucky delinquent, a mindless person with strange interests. Or, well, this was how Kagami perceived her. It was fairly accurate.

"It's not your decision." With her shoulders pretty much completely numb, Konata decided to take a gamble. She knew she couldn't possibly understand Kagami's feelings, but felt sorry for her friend. So she used her lecturing voice (Kagami's accusing tone mixed up with Miyuki's neutral, "teachery" speech pattern), and tried to put as much feeling behind the words as she could.

"This has nothing to do with you. Again, we should've told you from the beginning. But you have no right to try and control your sister's, or my, life. And while I am surprised you haven't beheaded me yet, would you mind stop crushing my arms?" That last part was said very jokingly. Konata couldn't help it, she couldn't take anything seriously.

Instantly, as if Kagami had just realized that she was actually hurting her friend, she jumped off Konata. She shook her head, mumbling:

"But…I can't let you-"

Without a word, Tsukasa wrapped her arms around her older sister in a loving hug. Kagami turned around and buried her head in Tsukasa's shoulder and started crying, all while mumbling broken apologies over and over again. Konata stayed on the floor, trying to ignore the pain of blood rushing into sore limbs.

"It's okay…it's okay…" Tsukasa murmured, and it was a strange scenario of a younger sister consoling an older. After a few minutes, Kagami had calmed down enough to form coherent sentences. She hugged Tsukasa hard, whispering things that Konata didn't hear, nor wanted to hear.

The green-eyed girl got up and went over to the bed, sat down and waited. Eventually, Tsukasa led Kagami over to her, and the siblings sat down on each side of Konata.

"Konata…" Kagami started hesitantly, but got cut off by a cheery voice.

"You know what, I'll go first. It's only fair." Carefully, Konata put a supportive hand on the (slightly trembling) shoulder of her lifelong friend. "We were wrong keeping…this from you. But with all due respect, Kagamin, you didn't exactly act any differently than we thought you would."

The person who had minutes ago been a violent and cold soul laughed heartily. She gave Konata a friendly smack on the head, but then proceeded to take a more serious tone.

"I know, I…it was just…I felt so angry. It was unexpected, you guys. All I could think about was how…you…you can be, Konata. No offense."

"None taken. I should've known better than to fall in love with the girl with the freakishly strong and overprotective sister."

"Oh, shut up. And I'm sorry for treating you like that, Tsukasa. I should know by now that you can think for yourself." Kagami turned to her sister with an apologetic smile.

"I'd apologize as well, but Konata has told not to apologize for everything I do. So I'll say…that I'm thankful to you for not breaking her arms, onee-chan." The three chuckled at another grade A joke, and Kagami quickly said some more sorrys for the arm crushing thing.

"But I'm really curious, Kagami, what exactly made you so mad? Or…emotionless, even. It was scary as hell." Curious eyes, both green and violent, shone through Kagami's soul. And it burned.

"I don't know, honestly. First, it was the shock of…you know, you two. I'm still not over that. Especially for you, Tsukasa. I never even suspected…" Both Hiiragis began to blush due to the awkwardness of the moment, so Konata urged Kagami to continue.

"There was just this part of me that was warning me about you, Konata. Wanted me to keep you away. You are such a weird person…but in the end, you're my friend. Aaaand…I suppose I am pretty overprotective. You have to be when your sister is the biggest airhead on the planet.

"Hey!"

"Oh, you know it's true." Kagami teased, and got a couple of angry looks from Tsukasa in return. Then the three sat silent, contemplating the moment.

"So…" Said the restless girl who couldn't take anything seriously. "…we're good?" Kagami pretended to think about it for a bit.

"I guess. As long as you guys are careful around the house and such, but you've probably been hiding this for some time, right?"

"A while." Tsukasa said, not without shame.

"I thought so. And we don't have to tell anyone else right now if you don't want to. I can keep a secret."

"We know, Kagami. Thanks." Konata whispered, chewing thoughtfully on some black locks. Her thinking came to an end as Tsukasa, her unofficially sanctioned girlfriend, exclaimed:

"We have to tell Miyuki!"

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